Should I Bet on the St. Louis Cardinals Right Now?

The St. Louis Cardinals were pretty much right at the .500 mark as of Mid June, making them a relatively safe bet some days.

@ Miami Marlins

(June 17, 2024) - Here we have a Cardinals team that is playing a bit better than .500 baseball right now (35-35 overall).  They've won six of their last ten games and went 2-1 in their last two series (against the Pirates and Cubs).

The Cardinals have won six of the last seven games against the Marlins.  Because they are playing in Miami, the price should be under -180 in each of the scheduled games.

On Monday we had a price of -156 with the St. Louis ace Sonny Gray starting.  We would not expect a price above what we are going to see on Monday.

Gray has faced these Marlins a total of 51 times, allowing just 4 RBI's and zero home runs.

Gray pitched seven innings of one-run ball and struck out nine Wednesday against the Pirates.

Garrett struggled in a losing effort against the Mets on Wednesday night, giving up six runs (four earned) on seven hits over his 4 2/3 frames.  He was absolutely pummeled in his prior start following a win before that. 

This series has tended to go Over.  Miami has given up at least 4 runs in six of their prior ten games though the Cards have only scored 3 or fewer runs in half of their last ten. 

@ Chicago Cubs

(June 16, 2024) - St. Louis had won the last four in this series until Saturday when the Cubs walked away with a 5-1 victory.  Miles Mikolas (4-6, 4.85 ERA) starts for the Cardinals Sunday. He's allowed 45 hits in 176 at bats versus this Cubs roster.  While he's permitted 21 RBI's, Mikolas has only given up two home runs over this span. Nico Hoerner (.244 with two home runs) has mostly cut into Mikolas' numbers.

Mikolas pitched seven innings of one-hit ball while striking out six in the Cardinals’ 2-1 loss to the Pirates on Tuesday.  He had a win prior to that start.

The Cardinals career statistics vs. Jameson Taillon are 34 hits in 105 at bats.  This includes 8 RBI's. He's also allowed two home runs.  Taillon allowed just four hits in six shutout innings while striking out five and walking one but did not factor into the decision. 

Cardinals Power Rankings

(June 16, 2024) - "St. Louis continues to climb back into relevance, and Masyn Winn is still leading the way. Like a lot of his MLB peers, Winn was a two-way player as an amateur, playing shortstop but also pitching. He recalled recently that at that time, he preferred working on the mound over playing shortstop because of the element of control. With his powerful arm, he could dominate a game from the mound in a way he could not in the infield. In the majors, he is quickly developing into one of the best young shortstops in baseball, more consistently putting the ball in play -- and with authority. Over his past 29 games, Winn is batting .340 with a .500 slugging percentage. -- Buster Olney, ESPN.com